A man has filed a Zimmer metal on metal hip replacement lawsuit after his Biomet M2a Magnum Hip system allegedly failed.

Zimmer announced it was buying Biomet for $13.4 billion in April 2014, and the company is now called Zimmer Biomet.

The plaintiff says he received the Magnum hip system in his right hip in January 2015. According to his complaint, Biomet has received many reports that the Magnum system was defective, but continues to represent to the plaintiff and his doctor that the Magnum hip replacement system was safe and effective.

Shortly after his surgery, he began feeling pain in his right hip even though x-rays indicated the Magnum hip system showed “overall good placement.”

The plaintiff says he eventually needed the M2a Magnum hip system removed from his body during a revision surgery.

The post-surgical pathology reports said he had scar tissue built up around the implant system and that parts of his own bone had died and tissue had become chronically inflamed and damaged.

Zimmer Metal on Metal Hip Replacement Problems

The plaintiff alleges the M2a Magnum hip system is defective because excessive amounts of cobalt and chromium corrode and wear from the surfaces where metal meets metal. This excessive wear purportedly causes the hip implant system to fail.

The metal particles that wear away become embedded in nearby tissue where they cause tissue and bone to eventually die. In the meantime, the tiny particles irritate the tissue so much that the body reacts by trying to flush out the invading matter. As a result, the patient will suffer from inflammation and fluid retention that can develop into pseudotumors, which are hard pockets of fluid that resemble tumors.

In addition, toxic levels of cobalt and chromium enter the bloodstream, causing metal poisoning.

The Zimmer metal on metal hip replacement lawsuit alleges that sales people assured surgeons that the M2a Magnum “was safe, was the best product on the market, and had an excellent track record and a low and acceptable failure rate.”

Sales people continued to promote the M2a Magnum hip system even after the company had received numerous complaints of serious complications and early failures of the product. Biomet allegedly concealed that it had any knowledge of problems with the M2a Magnum.

The Zimmer metal hip lawsuit also contends that Biomet hid the problems with the M2a Magnum hip system to ensure the company would be attractive to investors who might otherwise hesitate to purchase the business if the hip system’s failings were known.

In February 2014, Biomet reportedly agreed to pay $56 million to settle an MDL regarding the allegedly defective M2a Magnum hip implant systems. The MDL began in 2012 and consisted of hundreds of plaintiffs who claimed the hip implant system was defective and caused them serious injuries. Biomet did not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement.

According to its annual report, Zimmer Biomet had net sales of $7.93 billion in 2018, with knee and hip systems leading their sales growth.

The FDA has also reportedly launched an investigation to evaluate the materials used in metal hip implants.

The Zimmer Metal on Metal Hip Replacement Lawsuit is Case No. 1:19-cv-01393 in the U.S. Eastern Court for the District of New York.